Obama to Congress: Kill oil industry’s tax breaks

WASHINGTON — Pump prices on his mind, President Barack Obama says Congress should kill tax breaks for the oil and gas industry and help develop alternative sources of energy.

Obama said Saturday in his weekly radio and Internet address that he expected Congress to consider in the next few weeks ending $4 billion in tax subsidies, a move he has failed to persuade lawmakers to make during his term. He said the vote would put them on record on whether they “stand up for oil companies” or “stand up for the American people.”

“They can either place their bets on a fossil fuel from the last century or they can place their bets on America’s future,” Obama said.

Industry officials and many Republicans in Congress contend that cutting the tax breaks would lead to higher fuel prices, raising costs on oil companies and affecting their investments in exploration and production. The measure is considered a long shot, given that Obama couldn’t end the subsidies when Democrats controlled Congress earlier in his term.

Republican presidential candidates have accused Obama of delaying drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico and in a national wildlife refuge in Alaska and faulted him for not advancing the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to Texas Gulf Coast refineries. They have also criticized policies pursued by the Environmental Protection Agency as inhibiting energy development.

Obama said there is no quick fix to high gas prices, which climbed to $3.83 on Friday according to AAA, but he pushed back against critics who say he is opposed to more drilling. He said the U.S. is producing more oil than at any time in the past eight years and has quadrupled the number of operating oil rigs.

“If we’re truly going to make sure we’re not at the mercy of spikes in gas prices every year, the answer isn’t just to drill more — because we’re already drilling more,” Obama said. He said his administration was trying to develop wind and solar power, biofuels and usher in more fuel-efficient vehicles to make the nation less dependent on oil.

In the weekly Republican address, Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., said his constituents have been hard hit by an increase in gasoline prices and were “fed up with the way the president is handling this issue, and rightfully so. The most forceful thing the president has done about high gas prices is try to explain that he’s against them.”

“After spending money we don’t have on what won’t work — and overregulating what would — is it any wonder gas prices have more than doubled on the president’s watch? Make no mistake, high gas prices are a symptom of his failed ‘stimulus’ policies,” Gardner said.

Obama is expected to keep up a drumbeat on energy this week, traveling to four states over two days to push his administration’s “all of the above” energy strategy. The trip includes stops in Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Ohio.

6 Responses

Obama wants to take away Manufacturing Industry Tax Deductions (now remember, when he speaks to the “Sheeple” he calls them “Tax Credits” and “Tax Breaks”-they are Tax DEDUCTIONS Mr. Obama – try to learn the difference PLEASE, but then again, what do you expect from a leech on Society that has heavily relied on the Government for all his “jobs”/”income” – excepting of course some payola).

So effectively, the Obama Administration wants to beat down one of the only thriving industries in business today; thereby taking away some tax deductions which in turn will cause a contraction of the employed workforce causing job loss, less supply and higher prices for gasoline and crude, including natty gas.

Further, in High School, yes High School Mr. Obama, we were taught that manufacturers pass on increases in the cost of manufacturing and the costs of goods to Consumers, so effectively anyone with any pretense of Education knows that when the US Government imposes a new tax or eliminates a tax deduction, the ultimate cost of the goods goes up and that cost is passed onto the Consumers; therefore, the Consumer actually suffers an increased cost for the product. WTG Barry!!! You get an “F” in Economics 101. How stupid are you really to not even know something so basic and simple to understand? I would have thought that even you, Mr. Obama, would have known the basic principles of Economics, but I was wrong.

Sadly, it appears that Obama and his Advisors have all failed High School Economics.

More sad is the fact that his attack on Manufacturing Tax Deductions will halt job growth, increase crude prices and stick the basic taxpayer with higher costs-solely for obtaining a vote from the ignorant folks that are either blinded by Obama Kool-Aid or apparently never went to High School.

This doesn’t even begin to touch their transportation fuel needs, and they are calling this a project ” for a generation ” .

And a lot of their motivation , comes from their dependence upon the Russians for natural gas. The Russkies blackmail them almost every other winter.

The Germans have no other source of energy to draw on.

Quotes from the Bloomberg article …..

“The German energy transformation is as challenging as the first moon landing,” said Peter Terium, who in July takes over as chief executive officer of RWE, Germany’s second-largest utility. “It’s a huge challenge we’ll be able to master only if everyone works together.”

“If Germany succeeds, it could be a role model for economies all over the world,” said Claudia Kemfert, DIW’s senior energy expert. “If it fails, it will be a disaster for Germany’s politicians, society and economy.”

Wow, the guy in White House just does NOT get it. I know he is not a stupid fellow, so the only logical conclusion is that he is a 100% political player with absolutely no sense of national responsbility. He will say whatever the sheep might follow, regardless of whether he knows it to be a mis-truth or not. He is talking actions which will deliver $6 per gallon fuel prices by this summer, instead of paving way to get the USA back into a leadership position with energy in the coming years. Its not all about impacting prices in the next month, its about doing whats right for 2012,2013, 2014, 2015….. and pouring more money into alternative energy R&D (into companies which fail and leave taxpayers hanging, as as been case in 2009-2011 with this administration) is not sane logic.

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